DaveT

I'm pretty sure it was an older one. Too long ago. It just used a different lower hose to meet the different angle.

I did come across one variant in the past with a different angle on the lower hose. It also used a different lower hose. But all my others are the same, and use the same hose for top and bottom.

I'd be surprised if it were egr. The only idle air failure I had just killed idle. The codes might be a big help.

The same from at least 86 through 94. Except the turbo radiator has 2 rows of tubes for more cooling capacity. I have always upgraded to those. But they are hard to find. There is minor modification required to mount them.

I have had good luck with the no re torque Fel Pro head gaskets. After having multiple intake gasket failures, I have bought a pile of OEM gaskets. They are made differently - not just paperboard or whatever even the original ones were made from. They are now layered with metal, and the mating surfaces are slippery, I suspect to help deal with uneven expansion. NOTE: EA82 engines. I am not sure about what they have done for the older versions.

I suggest adding one. Increases the cooling system capacity. I had added on on my 76, and 78 back when I had those. And helps with figuring this sort of thing out.

I have not snapped a bolt since discovering the patiently work them out while hot trick. Some were very stuck.

Often the 6 bolts that hold the manifold to the head are difficult to remove. I have found the best way to remove them is to run the car until it is at normal operating temperature. Then gently work them out, while it is still hot.

Is that image from a FSM? I'd need to see the entire schematic for the engine electrical system to try to interpret what's what. There's too much missing in that small image.

The pinhole small bubbles in radiator won't show on a compression check. When it gets worse, yes. The easiest way to tell is how fast does coolant disappear from the recovery bottle over a few drive cycles. Is there more or less air in the upper hose each time? When this failure gets toward the bad range, so much "air" get pushed into the coolant system that a short drive will cause the recovery bottle to overflow. At this point, there is no question. I have always resealed a spare engine, then swapped it. Yes, it can be done on the car, but it's a lot easier to get at and see everything on a stand.

That is what happens with a broken boot, after enough dirt has gotten in, and grease gotten out. It will get worse and worse, until it becomes undrivable, or fails outright.

If you have a second person you can check to see if the axel nut is turning, etc.

Sounds like a hub or cvj stripped out. Others on the forum have actually experienced this. And have driven at least short distances on the rear drive half of the 4wd.

Get uderneath the car. Look for rust. Look at the metal covered by mudflaps. Check where the front fender goes down to the rocker panel by the front edge of the doors.

+1 what grossgary wrote.

When the leak is small, checking the coolant level and air in th hose, before every run tells more than a one time check.

I have noticed that the gauge on the dash, from car to car, is not calibrated. That is, half way up on one is normal, half way up on another is overheating. BUT on any ONE car, if it is normally say, at half, but then something is failing, and it starts reading higher, it is displaying that information correctly, that the engine is hotter than normal. Running hotter than normal is bad for these engines. That's what I have seen since 1988, over 7 EA82 wagons.

I have not had a headgsket failure that caused coolant to be burned and cause detectable evidence in the exhaust. I have had an intake gasket fail and cause the smell & smoke.

Headgasket failures I have experienced: Cylinder/s to coolant - the most common. Anything from a very small slow little bubbles in the coolant recovery bottle, to pushing the coolant out fast enough to overheat in a handful of miles. Once it starts with the small leak, it grows until unusable. It may be a few days, weeks or months. These leaks invariably began after a mild overheat due to low coolant, usually caused by an intake gasket failure, coolant system hose failure, radiator leak, water pump seal failure. Checking coolant level 1 time per week is not frequent enough to catch many of the leaks that I have had cause failures. I check coolant in the morning. Both by looking at the level in the bottle, and by squeezing the upper hose. [Do I hear air, water, etc going through the jiggle pin?] Water jacket to exterior. A few times. Water jacket to oil sump. Once, with a bad overheat with very low coolant.

Not much to lose doing the split boot to get home. At least keeps the grease in there....

That's impressive. If the battery and clamps are all good. Are the meter probes on the posts of the battery, vs on the clamps? The wistle is likely from the very overloaded alternator. It takes a lot of current to push a good battery up to 18 volts.

A good fully charged LA battery should read 12.6 volts at rest. Rest means absolutely NO loads on it, and no charging for at least 12 to 24 hours. 12.4 with the engine running, and no alternator doesn't sound bad, but I have not measured the condition either.

I've replaced a clutch or 2. Always done it by removing the engine. Seems like a good idea to replace the rear main seal while all that is apart. New pressure plate and throw out bearing. Turn flywheel if needed.

The fuel pump is in back near the gas tank. It would stop air from going backwards toward the tank. First thing to check, is the pump running? Note, it will only run for a few seconds unless the engine is running.

It is normal for the oil pressure to be low at idle when hot. The leaks from the head gaskets, cam carrier,and cam seals are normal for the age and miles. Time for a reseal, but it's not a problem to keep driving, just a mess with the drips everywhere you park. It also slows rust under the car.